Stalk-breaking and fiber-cleaning machine.



'PATEN'TED AUG. 25, 1903..

s. B. ALLISON. ST'ALK BREAKING A'ND'FIBER CLEANING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 14, 1897. RENEWED JUNE'Z4, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

.T 0 n Z hm Q.

THE NORRIS PETERS CO. PHOTGLITNO- WASHINQTUN D-C.

UNITED STATES;

l Patented August 25, mos.

.PAT NT OF SAMUEL BENJAMIN ALLISON, OF NEwoRLEANs, LOUISIANA; o. A.DORRE- STEIN ADMINISTRATOR or SAID ALLISON, DECEASED.

STALK-BR'ESAKING'AND FIBER-CLEANING MACHINE.

SPEGIFIGATION'forming part of Letters PatentNo. 737,3I1l'dated August25, 1903. Application filed September 14:, 1897; Renewed JHI1924|1903|SerialNo. 162,915. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, SAMUEL BENJAMIN AL- LIs0N,a resident of New Orleans,in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Stalk-Breaking and Fiber-CleaningMachines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such-as will enable others skilledin the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to machines for separating the fibrous and woodyportions of freshly-cut or green stalks of ramie, hemp, and other likeplants, and has for its object to increase their efficienoy withoutunduly increasing their cost and the complexity of their parts. 7 Theinvention consists in the construction hereinafter described andparticularly pointed out.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a central section takenlongitudinally through the charging and discharging devices andtransverse to the breaking and scutching devices. Fig. 2 is a similarview of a modified machine. Figs. 3 and 4 are an enlarged section andbroken plan, respectively, ofa scutching-blade and rubbing-bar.

stalks, leaves, or plants between (the circumferentiallygroovedstalk-splitting roller 2 and its coacting Smooth-surfaced roller 3.

4 denotes a guide-board for the material, and 4 a scraper for roller 3.

5 denotes a block having 'a scraping edge for roller 3 and having aworking bed 65 00- operating with roller 2 and a bed 7 cooperating withthe blades 8 of an endless openwork belt or series of belts 8. The upperedge of the guide or block 5 extends slightly above the overlappingedges of stalk-rubbing bars to be described. An open-work belt or seriesof parallel belts is indicated by 9, and

9' denotes blades which mesh-loosely with blades 8 and in manner tobreak wood fragments, and while they also rub the material they draw itforward, separating the broken wood in the operation. This separated refuse drops between the bars and out of the.

machine, so that it does not interfere with Numeral 1 denotes an endlessbelt to feed the subsequent treatment of the fiber. To secure'the bestresults, the belts may have a speed greater than that of the roller, anda ratio of six or seven .to one has been found suitable.

The bearing-1O of an upper belt-roller is set obliquely and madeadjustable by wellknown blocks and by set-screws 22 to provide that thedistance between the blades 8' and 9' may be varied in an obliquedirection and also that the blades 8 may be adjusted to the be'd7;

11 denotes a guide which may be made hollow and have a supply-pipe andwhich may be perforated to discharge liquid upon the material as it isturned down between roller 12 and the bars 9"of-the lower endless belt.

13 denotes a blockhaving aworking bed 13 cooperating with bars 9 afterthey have beaten the material against roller 12, and it also has a bedcooperating with the scutching b'ars 14. p 9, with their scutching-bars,is such that they are. adapted to separate broken woody refuse anddischarge itout of the path of the fiber before'the latter reachesthespri'nkler and before it is subjected to the action of roller 12 andother devices to be described. 13 denotes a scraping edge to clear saidroller 12, and 17 is a. cover for the roller below.- Block 13 Thesituation-of the'belts 8 and is suitably formed on its'under side toprovide a working bed 18 for the devices carried byfthe' subjacentroller. This bed may be corrugated, as indicated at its upper part at18.

15 denotes the axis ofa roller having heads 15', which maybe of diskform,- or preferably of spider form, provided with a rim for theattachment of scutching or scraping bars 14.

These have edges 14, forwardly inclined and adapted to give a finalsmooth rubbing action on the fiber to wipe off the fine woody refuse andlint. This refuse, beaten out by these bars and rubbed off from thefiber by the rubbing-buffers 14", can fall between the said bars and outof the path of the fiber, which is seized by the rollers 19 and 20,having, if desired, elastic coverings 19 and 20, and carried away by theendless belt 22, run upon rollers 20 and 21.

The devices last described are shown in Fig. 2 in a modifiedcombination. In said figure a crushing-roller is indicated by 23, and asmooth-surfaced cooperating roller is denoted by 24. The roller 25 has asmooth surface and serves to deflect the material downwardly and alsopresses the broken stalks against roller 24. A scraper is denoted by 26and a working bed cooperating with roller 24 by 27. This bed terminatesin a scraping edge 28. Adjustable sliver cleaning and gripping platesare denoted by, 29. These are adapted by their edges 30 to separaterefuse from the fiber.

29 are chutes to carry the refuse away from the cleaning devices. Theplates also hold the sliver against the transverse action ofreciprocating cleaning-blades 31 in case such are used. These devicesdeliver the partiallycleaned fiber separated from much of the refuse todevices similar to those described in connection with Fig. 1. All thebearings have, preferably, rubber blocks or springs back of the usualbrasses, and 22 denotes in every figure screws with handles foradjusting the spring-pressure and varying the distance between the facesof rollers and other devices acting on the fiber. The rubber bars 14,situated behind the bars 14, may be used to support the said bars in ayielding manner, and the bolts 14' in such case will pass through oblongslots 14 in the bars to permit them to yield slightly to pressure on theworking or free edges caused by their striking the material against thebed 18 or against its ribs 18. The rubber parts 14: may also yieldslightly in a radial direction under the pressure caused by their actionupon the fiber held against the bed 18. These buffing or rubbing parts14" may in some cases be made of fibrous elastic material or ofcompressible material, such as leather.

l6 denotes seats formed in the roller-heads. These are preferablyundercut on one side to receive the enlarged foot of the elastic bars14", and said bars have each a head which overhangs the rear of a bar14, by whichit is provided that the bolts hold both bars in the seats.

The construction is specially adapted to the final treatment of thefiber and permits a close and nicely-adjusted beating and rubbing actionvery suitable for removing the residue of fine refuse without injury tothe material.

As illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4:, the scutching-bars 14 and the :elasticrubbing-bars 1st are held in place by a single detachable screw-bolthaving a head or nut seated in a depression 14-". These bars can beremoved in whole or in part to permit the substitution of other devices,if desirable.

It is one of the purposes of the improvement to separate and dischargethe broken wood and other refuse at as early a stage in the operation aspracticable, and for this purpose special means have been devised. Thesituation and construction of the endless belts and their bars providesthat much refuse will be discharged before the skeleton roller and itsblades operate on the fiber, and the construction of this roller andscutching and rubbing bars and their situation underneath the bedinsures that the residue of refuse separated thereby can drop freely outof the path of the cleaned fiber.

I am aware that stalk-flattening rollers having a smooth surface havebeen combined with endless belts carrying stalk bending and breakingbars, and such combination is not of my invention, which ischaracterized by devices for first breaking stalks transversely and thenclosely rubbing or scraping the broken stalks to separate wood, theconstruction being such that the separated wood is dis chargedimmediately from the machine. This discharge of wood precedes the actionof the scutching devices.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combination ofdevices for-breaking stalks transversely, wood-separating mechanismhaving devices for breaking and rubbing the material to thereby deliverthe wood from the machine, means for guiding the broken stalks from thebreaking devices to the woodseparating mechanism, mechanism to scutchthe partially-cleaned fiber, and means for guiding the partially-cleanedfiber from the Wood-separating mechanismto the scutching mechanism.

2. The combination of devices for breaking stalks transversely,wood-separatin g mechanism adapted to deliver the wood from the machinebefore the scutching operation, mechanism to scutch thepartially-cleaned fiber, a guide for the broken stalks from the breakingdevices to the wood-separating mechanism, said guide cooperating with apart of the breaking mechanism to loosen the broken wood, and means forguiding the partiallycleaned fiber from the wood-separating mechanism tothe scutching mechanism, said scutching mechanism comprising an openworkroller cooperating with a bed situated above it.

3. The combination of the rollers 2 and 3, one of said rollers havinglongitudinal corrugations to break the stalks transversely, the guide 5for the broken stalks, the belts provided with wood-separating bars,said guide having a working face extending above the overlapping edgesof said bars, the guideroller 12 situated adjacent the path of the barsof one of the belts, the block 13 having two working beds, and thes'cutching-rollcr 15, said beds of the block cooperating with a belt andwith the roller 15 respectively.

4. The combination of means for transversely breaking stalks, beltsprovided with wood-separating bars, guide-roller 12, and block 13, saidblock having working beds cooperating with a belt and with the roller 15respectively, and the roller and guide being situated adjacent theend ofone of the belts and cooperating with its bars to clean the fiber andguide it about the end of the belt.

5. In a machine for separating the wood and fiber of plants, a workingbed adjacent the path of the material, a roller, scutchingblades securedin said roller in a plane approximately tangential to its circumference,an elastic backing situated behind the blade and opposite its workingedge, said bed being curved similarly to the path of said edge, andmeans to drive the several parts of the machine including mechanism torotate the roller and carry the edge of the scutchingblade obliquelyagainst material between it and the bed, substantially as described.

6. In a machine for separating the wood and fiber of plants, a rollerhaving sockets or seats 16, the bars 14 held in said seats, and elasticrubbing-bars 14" situated in saidseats back of the bars, substantiallyas described.

7. In a fiber-cleaning device, a roller having sockets or seats 16, thebars 14, elastic rubbing-bars 14" back of said bars 14, and

the bolts 14 securing both bars reinovably in the'seats, substantiallyas described.

8. In a fiber-cleaning device, a roller having sockets or seats 16, thebars 14, elastic rubbing-bars 14 back of said bars 14, and the bolts 14"securing both bars removably in the seats,.the bars having enlargedopenings to permit them to yield under blows and compress therubbing-bars, substantially as described.

9. In a fiber-cleaning device, a roller having sockets or seats 16, thebars 14, elastic rubbing-bars 14" back of said bars 14, said bars 14each having an enlarged foot to engage an undercut wall of its seat andalso a rubbing-head overhanging the bar-14, substantially as described.

10. In a machine for separating the wood and fiber of plants,cooperating endless belts each provided with fiber-rubbing bars, the

bars of one belt meshing with those of the other, rollers to drive thebelts, and means for adjusting the bearings of one of said rollers in adirection oblique to the path of the main portions of the belts, to bothtighten a belt and move it nearer the other belt, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscrib ing witnesses.

SAMUEL BENJAMIN ALLISON.

Witnesses:

ED. G. DEL OoRRAL, OTTO H. OERTLING.

